Being a food blogger is a crazy, amazing, messy, frustrating, exhilarating life that isn’t the easiest to understand unless you’re…a food blogger.
So you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to spend a long weekend on Lake Michigan in a beyond dreamy lake house with 16 insanely awesome people that live my crazy life and love every second of it. We laughed, we learned, we taught, we recharged, we inspired, we relaxed, we ate, we drank, and then we ate and drank some more!
The conference was hosted by lovely Liz of The Lemon Bowl and co-hosted by Dara of Cookin’ Canuck and Phi of Sweet Phi. The rest of the fabulous crew included Fit Foodie Finds, Skinnytaste, Chez Us, Andie Mitchell, Foodie Crush, Order in the Kitchen, Amy’s Healthy Baking, Show Me the Yummy, and Always Order Dessert. Hurry and go follow these lovebugs right this second!
The best part was that no one knew each other in real life prior to the retreat. Amazing, right?! It was such a diverse, friendly, inspiring, and talented group that was just small enough to foster intimate, honest conversations about the business of blogging and life in general.
While I learned TONS about food photography, time management, working with brands, and building a business, my fondest memories weren’t of workshops and business chatter. It was when we were cracking up about nothing over freshly popped rosemary popcorn, making s’mores around the fire, whipping up each other’s recipes, and reminiscing about dinner the night before over hot pancakes.
So as gorgeous and perfect as the house and the lake were, the more beautiful part about #FreshCoastRetreat was the people. Relationships are everything to me. I treasure meeting new people, learning their story, and nurturing that long-term friendship. There are those you can network with and there are those you can be friends with. Then there’s that rare but fabulous in-between group where you can do both.
You can give and take advice about building a brand and then just as easily face-plant into Syrian Salad or Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies amidst deep conversations about life. Or talk for hours about boyfriends and have sunset engagement photo shoots (oh hi, Fit Foodie Finds!). That was what this was, and I’ll always cherish that.
I love being put outside of my comfort zone. The whole experience was so enriched by the fact that there was no wifi and that I didn’t know any of these lovely people beforehand. We put Snapchat on hold and relished in real, face to face conversations. It was so damn refreshing. And inspiring! I left feeling so, so inspired.
I hope to be stuck in a house again with 16 food bloggers sooner rather than later! Like, tomorrow.
Sending so many hugs to the incredibly generous sponsors of #FreshCoastRetreat, including Bob’s Red Mill, Sabra, Stonyfield, and Experience Grand Rapids. Thank you times a million for keeping our bellies full and hearts happy all weekend long! Last but not least, thank you to Alejandro Photography, for making our memories permanent with your beautiful pictures.
Love your recap. Sounds like an amazing experience. And Lake Michigan is my happy place! What a great place to have a retreat.
I’m at my very first blogging conference right now (time change and up earlier than I need to be…) and can’t believe I waited this long to attend one. Just being around other bloggers who get it is everything.
Love your recap. Sounds like an amazing experience. And Lake Michigan is my happy place! What a great place to have a retreat.
I’m at my very first blogging conference right now (time change and up earlier than I need to be…) and can’t believe I waited this long to attend one. Just being around other bloggers who get it is everything.
It was so nice to meet you and spend time with you in Michigan, such an awesome time, love seeing the recap!!
It was so nice to meet you and spend time with you in Michigan, such an awesome time, love seeing the recap!!
I’m so happy we finally got a chance to meet!! You are everything I imagined plus so much more!!! I hope our paths cross sooner than later!!
I’m so happy we finally got a chance to meet!! You are everything I imagined plus so much more!!! I hope our paths cross sooner than later!!
This looks like it was so much fun! I hope I get the chance to go to an event like this eventually!!
This looks like it was so much fun! I hope I get the chance to go to an event like this eventually!!
Beautiful venue. Looks like a great event. Thank you for sharing. xo Lauren
Beautiful venue. Looks like a great event. Thank you for sharing. xo Lauren
Girl! I had so much fun with you that weekend! I loved chatting with you about Alchemy and your blog and the incredible things you are doing! I had a blast sitting with you at dinner and hope we all get to go back for a reunion very very soon! I just adored everyone but definitely loved meeting you! It was so fun to be with such an incredible group of men and women and I too left feeling SO inspired! Love and miss you already! xo
Girl! I had so much fun with you that weekend! I loved chatting with you about Alchemy and your blog and the incredible things you are doing! I had a blast sitting with you at dinner and hope we all get to go back for a reunion very very soon! I just adored everyone but definitely loved meeting you! It was so fun to be with such an incredible group of men and women and I too left feeling SO inspired! Love and miss you already! xo
sounds like an amazing time! – doing what you love but still being on a bit of a “vacation. i hope i find one to go on eventually 🙂 weekend retreats are the best.
sounds like an amazing time! – doing what you love but still being on a bit of a “vacation. i hope i find one to go on eventually 🙂 weekend retreats are the best.
What an amazing weekend it was for everyone! It was such a pleasure to meet you and I walked away feeling completely inspired by everything you are able to juggle in the business world.
What an amazing weekend it was for everyone! It was such a pleasure to meet you and I walked away feeling completely inspired by everything you are able to juggle in the business world.